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Parents of St. John, Holy Trinity students surprised, disappointed over Bay Area Catholic School merger

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Bishop Joseph R. Cistone signed off on a plan late last week that will close St. John school, 619 Main St., in Essexville, and Holy Trinity school, 1008 S. Wenona St., located on Bay City’s West Side, following a month-long process that included one parent meeting and a parent survey asking for feedback. (Andrew Dodson | The Bay City Times)

BAY CITY, MI — There's a familiar feeling following a decision by the Bay Area Catholic Schools Board of Education to consolidate its three Catholic elementary schools into St. James Elementary and rename the school All Saints Central Elementary.

Similar to what parents of St. James students felt after learning of an initial proposal last month that threatened to close their school, parents of students at Holy Trinity Elementary and St. John the Evangelist school say they are surprised, disappointed and sad to learn their school buildings will close at the end of the school year.

“I completely understand that the two schools had to close to keep all of the schools open, it’s just hard that Holy Trinity has to be one of them,” said Aimee Warju, who has a second-grade son at the school. “My mom went there, I went there, my aunts and cousins went there — it’s a great school.”

Bishop Joseph R. Cistone signed off on a plan late last week that will close St. John school, 619 Main St., in Essexville, and Holy Trinity school, 1008 S. Wenona St., located on Bay City’s West Side, following a month-long process that included one parent meeting and a parent survey asking for feedback.

Fifth grade students at St. James Elementary school work on math problems on Tuesday, March 11. (Andrew Dodson | The Bay City Times)

An initial proposal called to merge the three elementary schools into St. John school.

“We listened to our parents, we took their feedback and came to a decision that we feel best serves our students,” said Kimberly Prime, president of Bay Area Catholic Schools.

The newly merged school, All Saints Central Elementary, which is located next door to Bay City All Saints Central Middle and High School, 217 S. Monroe St., will mimic the powder blue and white school colors of the high school, and its mascot will be the Little Cougars.

In addition to consolidating buildings, the district will raise tuition for the first time in six years by 2.27 percent — about $18 to $100 more per student, depending on a family’s income — and the board will create new parent volunteer committees to help market the school and retain student enrollment.

Between five and seven teaching positions and one food services position will be eliminated as part of the consolidation.

Picking up their children from St. John school on Tuesday, March 11, some parents said they were too emotional to comment on the situation. Others called the news surprising.

“It’s certainly sad,” said Steve Deitch, a future step-father of two students at the school. “We thought our school was an acceptable size for all of the students.”

“We thought nothing of it until we heard the news,” said Amy Koch, who has a daughter in the third grade at St. John school. “We thought that it was done weeks ago.

“We said that we’re going to continue supporting our schools, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Kimberly Prime

Prime says the school board is working to put together a transition team for students who are displaced from their current school.

“Our goal is to make them feel welcomed,” said Prime. “But the real goal is to change the culture of these schools. We’re not closing two schools — we’re creating a brand new school that will help us to continue growing Catholic education in the Bay Area.”

Jackie Wazbinski Showalter, an alumna and parent of former students at Holy Trinity, doesn’t think enrollment will be immediately impacted following the merger, which begins at the start of the 2014-15 school year, but says not having a Catholic school on Bay City’s West Side will hurt the district down the road.

“I don’t think they’ve realized that they’re going to lose out on a lot of upcoming students,” she said. “I would have really liked to see the board make it work to keep a school on the West Side and one on the East Side.”

Prime toured St. James Elementary on Tuesday with Principal Sr. Julie Gatza, walking up and down the hallways, getting a better idea on how the building will be laid out when it becomes All Saints Central Elementary.

“We’re very excited that this building will be the new school for our students,” said Gatza. “We can’t wait to welcome the new students and their families.”

Gatza hopes to host orientation-type events before the end of this school year to help students from St. John and Holy Trinity become acquainted with the building and the students at St. James.